


Dullahan 2: The Lady in White

by vala411



Series: Halloween madness [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, F/M, Halloween, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:13:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27310987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vala411/pseuds/vala411
Summary: (Halloween AU) Sequel to Dullahan, we get to see where our heroes are 5 years later. A new foe emerges and for once Snotlout does not pee his pants.
Relationships: Heather/Fishlegs Ingerman, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Series: Halloween madness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993969
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Dullahan 2: The Lady in White**

_Dullahan was based on ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and the mythology of the Dullahan. The sequel story will be based on the legends and myths of the specter known as the White Lady._

_This is the much-requested sequel that everyone has been waiting for._

**_Happy Halloween everybody! Enjoy!_ **

**Prologue**

_**Vinland, October 1022** _

It was the dead of the night and only a few torches burned in the village. Most of the illumination came from the moon which was now hiding behind the clouds. Using the covers of darkness a lean figure slipped past several guards and approached one of the huts near the harbor. The hut was small but the man residing inside was by no means a fool. The figure worked swiftly and struck from behind, clamping a hand over the man’s mouth and tilting his head downwards before slashing his neck.

Blood spurted and also coated the floor as the victim bled out. His eyes widened as to who was the assailant and the man croaked “Argr!”

“Even when dying you would say that to your own kin,” The man tutted before reaching a hand under the bed and grabbing an ornate wooden chest. He then leaned closer to the dying Viking and whispered “Don’t you worry brother. This which has plagued our line for generations, I shall put it to good use, our ancestors were fools to not use what we were blessed with.”

“C-Cu-Cur….” The man gurgled as he tried to say something but only more blood flowed out. The assailant then patted the man’s cheek only to discover that he had left this world. Without a second thought, the cloaked figure left the murder weapon behind, a Dorset dagger.

* * *

**_Somewhere in upstate New York, 29 October 2022_ **

Snotlout was on the phone with his supplier when a scream tore through the area. In fact, there were multiple screams which caused Snotlout to tell the person on the other end of the line that he would call them back.

“What in blazes is going on?!” Snotlout yelled as he stomped out of the trailer. It was already nighttime and his face was harshly lit in the glare of the light towers his crew had put up during the day.

He looked at the would-be construction site, an old and abandoned Victorian mansion that was long past its glory days. His night crew was supposed to be breaking ground but instead, they were all fleeing past him.

“What’s going on?!” Snotlout asked again as he grabbed one of the workers that nearly barreled into him.

“G-GH-GHOST!” The man stuttered out before ripping himself out of Snotlout’s grip and getting the hell out of dodge.

“Ghost?!” Snotlout uttered looking completely disbelieving but by then it was too late. The site had been abandoned, the equipment was strewn about, his night crew had fled and he had been left alone at the construction site. They were now behind schedule and Snotlout cursed. They could not afford to be behind schedule.

He looked back towards the rusted gates of the estate where his workers had fled towards and cursed. It seemed that they were not coming back and that this wasn’t some elaborate joke. “Ghost, they said,” Snotlout muttered a bit disbelieving. “Even if there was a ghost they aren’t paying your salaries,” he exclaimed before more muttering followed as Snotlout grabbed a flashlight from inside the trailer and made his way towards the dilapidated mansion. “I’ll show them there are no ghosts!” He was talking more to himself and nearly jumped as an owl hooted nearby. “Get a grip Snot, this isn’t like five years ago,” was said as he made his way up the rotting rickety stairs towards the front door. “Yeah, nothing like five years ago,” He reached out towards the doorknob and jiggled it, only to frown as the door wouldn’t give and seemed to be locked. He was sure that the door locks had been broken even before he was hired as vandals had left their unflattering graffiti both outside and inside the once luxurious mansion. “Come on,” Snotlout tried to force the door but it still wouldn’t budge. He then walked towards one of the broken windows and peered inside before stopping any movement and gulping. There in the broken mosaic glass of the window, he could see his reflection but also that of another. He swallowed loudly as he stared at the reflection of a floating woman draped in white behind him. Slowly Snotlout turned and looked behind him, goosebumps prickled his skin. But there was no one there and he let out a small breath of elation as this entire thing may have been a fiction of his overactive imagination. He turned his head back towards the window and screamed as the ghostly specter was standing between him and the window now.

Snotlout backed away from the entity with the grace of a Looney Tunes Tazmanian Devil, his back hitting the rotting wood of the balustrade and falling backwards on the damp grass. He kept scooting away, no momentum lost as the ghost just stood there watching. Finally, Snotlout couldn’t scoot backwards anymore and took off towards the rusted gates in a sprint just like the rest of his crew.

When he felt that he was a safe distance away he fished out his phone and dialed a familiar number. It rang twice before a gruff voice answered. “Daddy I need your help!” Snotlout nearly shouted into the speaker.

* * *

**_Muskogee, Oklahoma, 30 October 2022, 5:28 AM_ **

Hiccup groaned as there was an incessant knocking at his apartment door. He had pulled the covers over his head but that didn’t drown out the knocking. Bleary eyes looked at the digital clock on the nightstand that showed him that it was only 5:28 AM. Whoever was knocking probably had a deathwish.

The knocking however didn’t stop and only grew more persistent after a while. Hiccup groaned because if he didn’t answer the door then his neighbour, the very irate Mr. Hausen, would get the cops involved again and he’d have more of a headache. With a sigh he slipped out of bed, wearing some fuzzy dragon slippers and padded over to the door which he unlocked and ripped open yelling “WHAT?!” If they were going to bother him before 7 AM and without a decent pot of coffee in him then they will have to deal with his grumpy self.

“Hiya cuz!” Snotlout said as he stood in front of Hiccup’s apartment while giving a slight wave. The latter blinked before shutting the door in his face while thinking ‘Oh, heck no. I’m not doing this today!’.

“CUZ COME ON! IT’S ME SNOTLOUT!!!” The shorter man continued to bang on Hiccup’s door until Hiccup gave in and opened it once more.

“How did you even find out where I lived?” Hiccup asked with a frown.

“My dad, duh! He put me through to this guy called Gobber,” Snotlout rolled his eyes as he strode into Hiccup’s apartment. “So where is your violent girlfriend? I need her to do some hacking and slashing.”

“Astrid is not violent!” Hiccup defended. “Well not so violent to humans,” He amended. “Besides we’re not together anymore,”

This caused Snotlout to blink and gape at Hiccup. “You can’t be serious! Do you not remember what she did to the doors of my house the first time we met?!” Snotlout waved his arms rather wildly. “You, Mr. Commitment, and her, Ms. I’ll-slash-anyone-that-hurts-my-Hiccy, are not together anymore?! Did I step into the Twilight Zone?!”

“It had nothing to do with that and you did steal her head!” Hiccup groaned while rubbing his forehead. “We had disagreements about work.”

“Disagreements…. Right…” Snotlout stated. “So I came all the way here for nothing. Great…….”

“Why did you even want to see Astrid?” Hiccup now questioned. “Spitelout told me you didn’t take the whole thing……” He gestured with his hand to indicate the Halloween 5 years ago “....very well.”

“Headless horsewoman, demonic possession, magic, human sacrifice, and finding out your cousin isn’t exactly your cousin but some weird ancestor that started a secret organization to combat supernatural threats and being the mastermind behind most of that night……” Snotlout summed it all up and then lifted a brow. “Who in their right mind would take that well!” He then sighed and said “Look, I need yours or Astrid’s help. My livelihood depends on it.”

“Right… uhm…. If you really need Astrid and the others then I’ll make a call. She’s in Massachusetts right now with the twins.” He mumbled. “I’m assuming this thing you’re dealing with is supernatural…..”

“No, I need your violent not-headless-girlfriend to lob a truck full of watermelons in half. Of course, it’s supernatural!!” Snotlout grumbled.

“Wow, you’ve become somewhat sassy,” Hiccup deadpanned.

“If you see the clients I sometimes have to deal with…..” Snotlout muttered.

“So where exactly are we going?” Hiccup asked with a frown.

“Upstate New York,”

_**Muskogee, Oklahoma, 30 October 2022, 9:00 AM** _

“YOU GUYS HAVE A JET!” Snotlout exclaimed as he stood on the tarmac and gaped at the business jet Hiccup, Fishlegs and Heather were boarding. The man Snotlout had spoken to, Gobber, appeared to be the pilot.

“The organization Astrid and I set up is surprisingly well funded.” Hiccup stated. “We were in the employ of General Washington at the time. We’re still government-funded to this day.”

“Then why did I have to fly Economy?!” Snotlout groaned.

“Where to lad?” Gobber asked as he clapped Hiccup on the shoulder while the others got seated.

“Salem, Massachusetts and then upstate New York.” Hiccup told the man with a smile.

“Ah, getting the missus and gang back together,” Gobber smiled back before giving a mock salute. “Aye Aye Mon Capitan. It will be good seeing the lass again.”

Snotlout was seated in one of the plush seats and Hiccup joined him by sitting next to him as Gobber announced their take off. Fishlegs and Heather who appeared to be an engaged couple, judging by the rings they were wearing, peered at Snotlout curiously.

“Snot, you already know them but Fishlegs here is our data expert and Heather is our magic specialist.” Heather blushed here and muttered “Though I’m not so good as the twins,”

“Don’t sell yourself short, honey,” Fishlegs told her. “Not just anyone could open up a rift between dimensions to send the Wendigo home,” Heather blushed while Snotlout blinked owlishly.

“Right so let me set up the link to the twins,” Fishlegs stated as he brought out a tablet and connected it to the plane’s wifi. The Skype call was answered swiftly but all the group could see was a nose.

“Oye lard brain, you aren’t supposed to be so close to the camera!” A female voice said and then they could see Ruffnut drag Tuffnut back a few steps. “How’s it going guys?!”

“Good, how are you three?” Hiccup asked.

“Us two are good,” Ruffnut stated. “Astrid….. Well… she’s taking her anger out on several townspeople.”

“Should I ask why?” Here Hiccup groaned as if it was a regular occurrence. Snotlout shot his cousin a look that spoke volumes, ‘Not-violent heh?’

“The mission was a bust,” Ruffnut stated and then elaborated things for Snotlout who must have sported a very confused expression. “We were sent here to check out reports of ghostly witches. You know, the ones that grew spiteful and kept haunting the place and its descendants.”

“Isn’t that a lot?” Snotlout asked. “With them being burned at the stake by their families and friends?”

“Surprisingly there were fewer witch burnings than there were hangings and drownings,” Tuffnut stated. “History embellished the burning at the stake thing.”

“But that wasn’t the problem here,” Ruffnut shoved her brother aside as she leaned closer to the camera. “Several townspeople used the witch trials as a hoax to get tourists to come. They even got others to blame this teenage girl that was into herbal medicine.”

“I can see that setting Astrid off big time,” Hiccup said. “You guys just make sure she doesn’t kill anyone alright.” The twins saluted while Hiccup continued “We may have a case of a ghost sighting. Snotlout was very adamant in what he saw.”

“I’m not lying!” Snotlout defended. “That thing was right in my face!”

“This close to Halloween anything is possible,” Fishlegs stated. “In some cases, it turned out to be nothing more than superstition in several instances.”

“We do get called a lot more during this month,” Heather nodded. “As paranormal investigators, we also have to have a good degree of skepticism.”

“I know what I saw,” Snotlout insisted. “I’m not making this up.”

“Then tell us the whole story,” Hiccup stated as he eyed Snotlout. “You only said you saw a ghost but we still need to determine what type.”

“There are types?!”

“There are types,” Hiccup acknowledged.

“Right… uhm… I guess I have to start at the beginning.” Snotlout said as he took a deep breath. “After Highschool, I started up a small construction company. Alexi broke up with me afterwards since she was going to University in Europe. The company was good for a while. We did a lot of restoration work and other small projects while expanding slowly. I have a good dayshift and night shift crew now that is more than capable of getting the job done. After the pandemic of 2020 we sorta took a hit. Revenue was down and I was about to declare bankruptcy when I got the job of a lifetime.” Here Snotlout looked a bit wary. “Frankly I thought it was too good to be true,”

“The offer?” Hiccup asked as the others were listening intently. Even the twins were silent.

“A man named Mr. Grisly called. Said he wanted to hire us. When I first saw the pictures of the Victorian mansion I thought it was a restoration job but it seems the man wanted to demolish the house and set up a resort. The mansion grounds are extensive and our employer oozed rich. I’m talking Vanderbilt rich here Hiccup. The very definition of Blue Blood.” Snotlout gestured with his hands while Fishlegs wrote down some notes.

“It was his family’s mansion or did he buy the land?” Fish asked.

“Family mansion. He wanted it gone,” Snotlout nodded. “Said there was too much….. Bad blood floating around. He even offered to pay us double if we could work through Halloween.”

“And you didn’t find that suspicious?” Heather asked with a frown. “Halloween is when the veil between worlds is the thinnest.”

“Look, I’m not one to judge the rich and eccentric. The job commission was a lifesaver for my company and employees.” Snotlout shot back. “If we had to demolish a house on Halloween then by Thor we’d do it!”

“And this… ghost.. Just showed up?” Hiccup asked with a raised brow.

“Pretty much.” Snotlout stated. “My night crew is dedicated. They wouldn’t run away in mass if there wasn’t some danger. Even I ran once I saw her!”

“So the ghost is female,” Ruffnut commented as she leaned on her brother. “Anything else that was distinctive?”

Snotlout frowned for a moment as he thought. He thought hard and still frowned before saying “She wore all white. You know like those long nightgowns. And now that I think about it she had bruises around her neck.”

The group as a whole was silent and Snotlout thought he might have said something wrong so he asked “What? What is it?”

“What you saw was the spectre of a White Lady,” Heather muttered. “It’s difficult to ascertain what their true goal is.”

“Why is that? Are they that rare?” Snotlout asked now while looking perplexed.

“The opposite actually.” Hiccup answered. “The White Lady is well documented. Each culture has their own version of it. The motivations of the entity differ per culture so this makes it all the more difficult to pinpoint.”

“So what now?” Snotlout asked.

“Now we do research until we get to our destination.”

* * *

**_Salem, Massachusetts, 30 October 2022, 12:17 PM_ **

To say that Snotlout had been bored the entire flight would be an understatement. Snotlout was beyond bored. He’d taken a nap since there was no more information he could supply to Hiccup and his friends. The trio had been working the entire flight while he finally caught up on some sleep. He’d called his dad around midnight, had been whisked to the airport and caught a 5 hour plane ride to see his cousin-not-cousin who apparently was an expert in the occult. All of it seemed so surreal.

He cracked open an eye when the door of the jet opened to allow the twins and Astrid entry. The twins looked like they did on the Skype call but Astrid looked….. Like she’d fallen into a swamp. Her clothes were dirty with mud, her hair was all over the place, sticking up in odd directions with twigs and leaves still caught in it. She had an axe strapped to her back and a duffle bag slung over her shoulder.

“Hiccup,” She said as she caught sight of him.

“Astrid,” Hiccup said, equally stifled.

The whole plane oozed tension as the two looked at each other. Snotlout didn’t know if it was the bad or good kind of tension so for once he wisely kept his mouth shut. He certainly didn’t want to have an axe thrown at him again.

Astrid went to clean up in the plane’s restroom after Gobber took off again and when she came back she looked a lot more presentable.

“So what do we have?” She asked as she took a seat with the twins.

“A lot and not much really,” Fishlegs stated which only caused Snotlout to frown. How could they have a lot and not much at the same time? It seemed like such a contradiction.

“I did some digging into the mansion itself.” Fishlegs stated. “On record it’s as Snotlout said. It belonged to the Grisly family. A very prominent family that died out during or slightly after the Civil war. The mansion was completed close to 1854. Not a lot of records exist about it after that time.”

“The Civil war was from 1861 to 1865,” Hiccup thought aloud. “Is it possible they gave most of their assets to the war effort?”

“Can’t say for sure. There aren’t any records about the mansion after 1871.” Fishlegs stated. “The last known owner was one Elias Grisly, he died shortly after his wife, leaving no known heirs. Snotlout’s client might be a distant relative.”

“Something is still troubling you Fish,” Hiccup muttered.

“Aye,” Fishlegs nodded. “The Grisly family should have supposedly come over on the Mayflower when it set sail from Holland yet I can’t find any mention of their names. I even checked other ship manifests from around that time.”

“But they could have come over on other ships still,” Heather stated. “There were already well established outposts belonging to the French, Spanish, Dutch and even Russians. We also can’t know for sure if they changed their name.”

“That’s true,” Ruffnut stated. “New York was a Dutch colony before the English took over.”

“We’d have better luck looking into things locally,” Tuffnut added. “Who knows,”

“Now we come to the business of the ghost itself.” Heather stated. “We have about 38 minutes left of our flight so I will try to make this as short as I can.”

All eyes turned to her at that moment. “The specter of the White Lady is a type of female ghost which is typically dressed in a white dress or a similar white garment,” Snotlout nodded along as this seemed to match his description. “This ghost’s legend is often associated with tragedy. An accidental death, murder, or suicide. The theme of loss, betrayal by a husband or fiance, and unrequited love is heavily prevalent.”

“There are multiple legends of these specters ranging from the Dama Branca in Brazil to ghostly sightings in Canada, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland and Hungary to name a few.” Heather recounted. “There is always a tragic story attached to them and some say they lure men away to join them as their ghostly followers.”

“So we’re dealing with another malevolent ghost,” Astrid grumbled. “We should just start the exorcisms when we get there.”

“Astrid no!” Hiccup replied rather forcefully. “We talked about this, remember. You can’t just go exorcising every ghost you come across. Some can be made to naturally cross over.”

“And some don’t change Hiccup,” Astrid shot back as the two now glared at each other. “Not every ghost will change its tune. The best way is to get rid of them early on. Whether it be force or not!”

“All you resort to is force!” Hiccup shot back. “You don’t even give them a chance!”

“You would have been minced meat if I gave them a chance or don’t you remember!” Astrid replied as she crossed her arms.

“I told you I had it handled!” Hiccup muttered.

“Suuure you did….” Was Astrid’s only statement.

“I’m guessing there is some history here?” Snotlout whispered. Tuffnut who was seated beside him nodded rather solemnly.

“It happened about two years ago,” The other whispered back as everyone kept an eye on the glaring duo. “We were clearing an old asylum in Europe and came across a really spiteful ghost. A woman that was sent there by her relatives after her husband died. She suffered unimaginable torture there and thought we were staff at the asylum. Hiccup got her to calm down and boy was that a feat on itself. He was talking her through it, trying to get her to cross over when Astrid exorcised her. It’s been a sore point for them ever since. They quarreled about the whole thing. Hiccup told Astrid that not all ghosts needed to be forcefully removed. Some crossover once they realize that there is nothing left for them to bind them there. Astrid countered by saying that ghosts don’t change their obsession so easily and that the woman was just lulling Hiccup into a false sense of security. We still don’t know which one was right but the team split in two afterwards.”

Snotlout nodded as he now knew what Hiccup meant with work disagreements. “Will you two stop it,” Heather broke the stare-off and glared at the two. “I wasn’t done yet!”

Heather had her arms crossed as she watched both Hiccup and Astrid settle back down. “In the Netherlands they are known as the Vrouw in Wit and there there are legends where they can be as benevolent as they are malevolent. Frankly we don’t know which we are dealing with here so yes, caution is advised but I don’t recommend immediately exorcising the specter. At least not until we have a firmer grip on the situation. Fishlegs and I will investigate the local community while the rest of you guys visit the site. I’m pretty sure Snotlout has a good lay of the land.”

“ME?!” Snotlout exclaimed. “Why do I have to go back there?!”

“Because you actually saw the ghost and you are going to give us a tour of the area.” Hiccup raised a brow. “There is a lot we can tell just by the area alone.”

* * *

**_Somewhere in upstate New York, 30 October 2022, 2:00 PM_ **

To say that Snotlout was less than enthused to be back at the construction site would be the right description. Snotlout was wary to even get out of the SUV the group had rented. They had dropped Fishlegs and Heather off at the nearest town before heading up to the mansion.

“Ah crap,” Snotlout exclaimed as he took notice of a shiny black BMW parked near the gates.

As the group made its way onto the construction site itself they all took notice of a well dressed blonde man and a woman with her dark hair in a bun. The man wore a bespoke suit while the woman wore high heels and casual business attire. Snotlout was mentally saying every curse he knew. “Mr. Grisly,” Snot greeted as he extended a hand. The man didn’t take it however and looked down his nose at Snot.

“Mr. Jorgenson, I was assured you were punctual. The mansion still stands.” Grisly muttered while looking unimpressed.

“The crew is just taking a lunch break,” Snotlout quickly thought of an excuse and then assured, “Work is on schedule. It really is.”

“And these people are?” Grisly then asked.

“We’re ground inspectors,” Hiccup stepped forward and casually flipped out a business card from his wallet which he held out to the man. “H&H inspections. We are here to make sure the foundation is solid. Scott here contacted us. The plans for the resort you are planning to build on this site will take up a lot more space than this old mansion. Therefore soil consistency and its capacity should be re-assessed. We wouldn’t want any sinkholes or other nasty surprises to crop up now do we. It would mean a lot of lawsuits.”

“Indeed it would,” Grisly narrowed his eyes as he took the card before handing it to the woman who seemed to be acting as his personal assistant.

With a last “Don’t disappoint me Jorgenson,” the man made his way back to his car. Snotlout let out a relieved breath before rounding on Hiccup. “What was that?!”

“What?” Hiccup questioned.

“That! With the card!” Snotlout gestured wildly.

“Oh that,” Hiccup shrugged. “Just our cover. We’ve been at this for a couple of years now Snotlout. Sometimes we needed to go undercover.”

“But if he looks you guys up online he’ll find that it’s a fake!” Snotlout exclaimed as he realized the trouble this could cause.

“Nah he won’t.” Tuffnut shrugged. “The websites for our covers look legit and we have paper trails. I mean I had to go undercover as a Russian ballet dancer a year ago and no one questioned my credentials.”

Snotlout goggled at the group before muttering “Why in blazes did you need to pose as a Russian ballet dancer?!”

“It’s a long story. A very long story,” Astrid muttered while Ruffnut smacked her brother on the head for apparently bringing up that particular case. Either it went spectacularly wrong or it was spectacularly hilarious.

“But anyway, did none of you feel that?” Ruffnut frowned. “There’s an evil aura on these grounds.”

“I thought that that was just that Grisly guy,” Tuffnut shrugged.

“No you idiot. I sense something ancient. Something far older than this mansion.” Ruffnut muttered.

“I’m telling you it was that guy sis!” Tuffnut gestured.

“I’m telling you it’s the land!” Ruffnut insisted.

The twins were frowning at each other before they ended up duking it out on the ground while calling each other names. Astrid ripped them apart and chastised them with efficiency as she had been paired with them before and had thus known how to deal with it.

“Why don’t the twins look around outside while Astrid, Snot and I take a look inside?” Hiccup suggested once the twins had calmed down somewhat.

“You aren’t serious are you?! I have to go inside!!” Snotlout nearly whined. He was however outvoted and that was how the trio found themselves standing in front of a wooden door which surprisingly swung open with ease.

“Huh…..” Snotlout was perplexed as that hadn’t been the case last night.

“Let’s split up,” Astrid suggested as she looked around the dilapidated room.

“Split up?! Split up?! Are you serious??!! That’s how we die!” Snotlout shouted. “Do none of you guys watch horror movies?! It’s always the pretty ones that get killed first when the group splits up and I’m too beautiful to die!”

“Snotlout let go of my leg!” Astrid growled as her eyes narrowed. Snotlout, in his dramatic exclamation, had latched onto Astrid much like a koala. He didn’t want to split up and he wasn’t about to let them either. Astrid was ready to clobber him when the room turned chilly.

“There!” Hiccup said, getting both Astrid and Snotlout’s attention, as he pointed towards the rotting staircase that had once been beautiful. Traces of the mahogany finish could still be seen but the rotting wood wasn’t what drew their attention. There, floating where the fourth step should have been was a translucent entity. A woman with sunken eyes and bruises on her neck. Decked out in a white sleeping gown. Her hair was long and floated behind her as she looked at the trio rather calmly.

Beside Hiccup Astrid gritted her teeth while Snotlout let out a whimper. “It doesn’t look like she wants to hurt us,” Hiccup murmured. The stare-off continued for at least a few more seconds and when the ghost didn’t vanish or do anything considered dangerous Hiccup asked it “Why are you here? What is tying you to this place?”

The woman stayed still, not betraying anything but Hiccup continued “We could help you. Maybe you could show us.”

The White Lady floated to the right and out of the foyer. Hiccup followed after her with Astrid hot on his heels while dragging a whimpering Snotlout along. “It’s just a ghost, it’s just a ghost,” Snotlout could be heard muttering as the floorboard creaked as they made their way further inside.

The specter stopped before a nondescript door and then disappeared. Hiccup frowned as the chill of the room gave way to warmth once more.

“Hiccup look at this,” Astrid said as she pointed to the doorframe. “Those are Norse runes.”

“What are Norse runes doing in a Victorian mansion?” Hiccup frowned as he jingled the doorknob. The door didn’t open but there was a slight glow to the runes. A magic glow. “This should lead to the basement. At least from the blueprints Fishlegs showed me.”

“AH HELL NO! NO NO NO NO NO!” Snotlout shouted. “We are not going into the basement of a haunted house! I am putting my foot down!”

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Somewhere in upstate New York, 30 October 2022, 5:05 PM**

The gang met back up in a small dinner in town after approximately three hours of investigating. Everyone was practically starving so they ordered quite a few big meals. There were some surprising factors that caused Astrid to pick at her mashed potatoes.

“You alright?” Hiccup asked as he noticed that she wasn’t eating.

“Just thinking,” Astrid muttered. “I can’t believe the twins agreed with Snotlout.” The twins agreeing with each other was rare enough, the twins agreeing with Snotlout was miraculous. Snotlout had been clinging to Astrid like a limp noodle when they got to the basement door where he shouted that he would put his foot down. Only, Snotlout had been dragged over the floor by Astrid and instead of a foot, he had punched the floor with his hand which sent his entire hand and part of his arm into the rotten wood. Snotlout screamed while Astrid and Hiccup rolled their eyes and tried to extricate him. That was when the twins rushed in yelling at them to not touch that door.

It was all surreal basically. They ended up jotting down the runes across the door frame, though the twins showed a clear disdain for being this close to the door. Hiccup wondered why that was. Snotlout was more relieved than ever to get his hand out from the wood that he didn’t notice any of this. After taking note of the magical runes they explored what they could of the rest of the mansion. In an upstairs bedroom, they found a flipped-over photo frame. It contained the black and white picture of a woman that Hiccup recognized as the White Lady. There seemed to be a strong connection to this house and Hiccup had his suspicions. He ended up taking the photograph with him.

As Hiccup snapped out of his musings he noticed that Snotlout was gone from the booth they had been seated at. When he asked, Fishlegs indicated towards the outside. There he noticed the shorter figure of his cousin who seemed to be yelling into his phone.

“Can I top any of you guys up?” A young waitress asked as she came by with a coffee pot. Hiccup nodded, he needed coffee to function at this point. Too many things weren’t making sense. They were in an area that had been part of the first 13 colonies, they had a haunted Victorian mansion, which actually wasn’t that shocking. The shocking part was finding Norse runes in the Victorian mansion. Those were…… anomalies. There was no way the Norse settled this far inland and definitely not during the Victorian era in the colonies. Furthermore, notice of the Viking exploration only happened at the beginning of the 20th century so there should have been no way for anyone to know those symbols. They basically had a conundrum in a conundrum.

“Excuse me, but do you know a lot of the local legends around here?” He asked the young waitress that was refilling their glasses.

“Born and raised,” The woman answered. “I grew up with the stories, though they weren’t much. Though no one really believes them anymore. You guys aren’t from around here are you?”

“Yeah we’re from out of town.” Hiccup told her. “We’re here doing research on the Grisly mansion not far from here before it’s torn down. We’d thought we’d look into the local rumors since there is always some truth there.”

“Grisly Manor, you mean?” The waitress asked and then laughed. “Oh, that place isn’t going to be torn down.”

“What makes you say that?” Astrid asked with a frown. “There’s a construction crew there already.”

“Because if the last few construction crews over the years couldn’t do it I doubt this one will,” The woman stated. “I’ve seen two other crews come in to work on that site. They didn’t have any luck and just…. Left,” She then shrugged.

Fishlegs was shooting Hiccup a look and then said “Two isn’t that strange though….. I mean, anything could have happened for them not to complete the project.”

“Sure, but around ten is a pattern,” The waitress shrugged as if she was used to this already. “I saw two crews come through town when I was growing up. My ma said she saw several and my granny also saw a few in her youth. They seem to come and go every decade or so. The Manor never gets torn down.”

“That is…..”

“Weird right,” The waitress nodded and waved her coffeepot a bit. “I mean if there really is something supernatural going on there then I do wish they would leave poor Elenor alone. The woman should rest in peace.”

“Elenor?” The group asked in unison and then Hiccup thought back to the photo he found in one of the bedrooms. “She was Elias Grisly's wife, right?” He asked.

“We couldn’t find out much about Elenor Grisly in the archives,” Fishlegs said as he pulled out a folder. “We’d appreciate it if you could tell us what you know.”

“Yeah sure, I love helping folks. Lemme just finish this coffee round and I’ll go tell my boss I’m taking my lunch break.” The waitress stated before walking to the other tables.

“You think she has more information for us?” Heather frowned. “I mean, there were a lot of rumors circulating around town but none conclusive.” Just as Heather said this Snotlout came back into the diner and slid into the seat next to her. He looked frazzled.

“I take it the call didn’t go well?” Hiccup asked.

“Both my night and day crews are refusing to return to the site.” Snotlout groaned. “This is the biggest job we got in years and it’s going to fail.”

“Maybe they shouldn’t go back. The land had an evil tint to it,” Ruffnut whispered. “I sensed so much blood being spilled.”

“The entire alignment was askew as well,” Tuffnut nodded just as the waitress came back.

“So you guys still want to know about that mansion’s history?” The waitress asked.

He nodded and then thought he’d ask the twins later what they meant. Astrid who was seated next to Hiccup scooted over for the woman who flopped down. She looked at the research Fishlegs had on the table next to his meal and whistled appreciatively. “I see you’ve been to the archives. They won’t tell you much though. The whole thing was covered up.”

“What was covered up?” Snotlout asked as he had missed most of the conversation.

“Elenor’s death of course.” The waitress stated. “Official records said that she died of illness but that isn’t true.”

“I’ve heard this story from my grandmother who heard it from her father. He used to be the groundskeeper for that place,” The waitress bent forward as if she was going to tell some very juicy story.

“We managed to dig up a marriage certificate,” Heather said as she rooted around in the files Fishlegs had on the table. When she found it she showed it to the waitress. Hiccup and Astrid peered at it too and saw the name ‘Elenor Beauregard’ and ‘Elias Grisly’ dated 1860. Grisly manor would have been completed six years prior and it was scant a year before the Civil war started. Then Fishlegs pulled up a death certificate that was dated in 1862.

“She’d only been married for two years before she died?” Astrid’s brows shot up.

“The story goes that Elenor’s family was from the deep South. She was sent to her cousin, by command of her eldest brother, who lived in New York to learn some ‘Victorian values’ since she seemed to be too free spirited for them to handle after her father passed.” Astrid frowned a bit as the waitress told the story. Hiccup supposed she sympathised as she too was from the time periods where women were more bargaining chips than people. “At a social gathering in New York she met Elias Grisly and the two started courting, though her cousin wasn’t too fond of him even if he was rich. To Victorian society he was…. Odd… or highly eccentric, at least that is how the story goes. I’m not really sure why though but the story goes on to tell that they hit it off and got married not six months later.”

“But two years later she died,” Hiccup stated with a frown. “You said that there was another story other than her dying of illness.”

“People here believed that in the two years she was married that she had gotten pregnant twice but both babies were stillborn. This infuriated her husband and he strangled her because she couldn’t give him an heir.” The woman recounted. “Now you see why I said she should just rest in peace. The younger generation here doesn’t really believe and could care less about the legend but my granny’s generation is sure she is haunting the place. They say that’s why all the construction crews over the years failed.”

“You think she attacked the construction crews over the years?” Astrid frowned as her eyes narrowed.

“Oh heavens no!” The waitress said quickly. “No one was hurt… I think. I don’t think she’s a bad ghost. When I was in High School some boys were messing around that area, setting off firecrackers and the likes. They saw her, they claimed, sent them running for the hills. There was this one boy who slipped and swore up and down that the ghost had caught him before he twisted his ankle.”

“So there was stil-” Hiccup was interrupted mid-sentence when Tuffnut grabbed his arm and squeezed hard. He winced and then looked at the blonde who said to the whole table, with pupils wide, “We need to go now.”

“What why?!” Snotlout asked but Tuffnut was insistent as he made motions for the group to vacate the booth.

“Now! Now!” Tuffnut kept insisting as Astrid shot the waitress an apologetic look like Tuff had done this a couple of times already.

“Hey no worries. I gotta get back to my shift.” The woman said before walking away after Fishlegs quickly paid the full tab. Everyone was looking at Tuffnut weirdly, even Ruffnut, as he ushered them out of the diner.

“What is wrong with you?!” Ruffnut grabbed her brother’s arm and her eyes widened as she felt goosebumps there. It was warm out, there was no need to have goosebumps.

“We are being watched,” Tuffnut whispered to the group and his eyes strayed to the other side of the street where a woman with her hair in a bun and dressed in a dark business suit was looking at them. A car drove past and the woman was gone.

“What the hell was that?!” Ruffnut hissed as they all piled back into the SUV. Hiccup was driving right now and he seemed they were heading for one of the hotels Gobber booked for them last minute.

“I don’t know sis?!” Tuffnut exclaimed. “I just had to get out of there! It felt like evil was licking my neck!”

“Ew!” Ruffnut muttered.

“Tuff’s always been more attuned to people,” Astrid stated. “It helped us in the past but this seems way over the top. I’ve never seen him act like this.”

“That’s because this was evil Astrid, pure ancient evil! It’s nothing we came across before!” Tuffnut exclaimed. “It felt more like it was trying to caress me and coax me into doing its bidding. I felt it slightly when we spoke to THAT guy but nothing like this,”

“Grisly?” Hiccup asked. “We all saw his secretary there across the street, didn't we? You sure you got that vibe from Grisly and not the woman?”

“Yeah totally. What I felt just now was way off the charts,” Tuffnut elaborated. “Way.. WAY…. off the charts. Sis, I’m actually afraid right now,”

Hiccup ended up parking on the lot of a Holiday Inn and the gang exited the van. Tuffnut was still shaken but not as much anymore as before. Check in went rather smoothly since all they needed to get was their keys from the front desk. Gobber had brought their go-bags and equipment in, and paid for the rooms, while they went to work.

As the gang all congregated in the twins’ room they watched Tuffnut flop on one of the beds and groan. Fishlegs was pursuing several town maps of the past while Heather set up her laptop. Meanwhile Snotlout was looking at all the other equipment that was still packed.

“What is all this?!” The shorter man then asked as he gestured to several machines.

“Different types of meters,” Hiccup explained as he pointed to some. “We usually take temperature readings of a room, magnetic readings…..” He then pointed to some other tripods, “Those are for measuring the land and are connected to Landsat. We also have hand drills to check the soil. We didn’t know what we were dealing with in your case so we brought it all.”

“But why?!” Snotlout asked while looking very confused still. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be Paranormal Investigators?”

“Only about 2 percent of our cases are truly paranormal,” Astrid stated as she sat down opposite of Hiccup. “Most of the time we are actually disproving the supernatural.”

“Yeah, we had this one case where an old building was slowly sinking because the foundation had been built on mud. That accounted for all the random creaking and the spontaneous shutting of doors. All because the ground wasn’t staying level.” Heather explained. “That’s where the soil testing equipment and GPS really came in handy.”

Heather then asked Ruffnut if she could see their notes and pictures of the Norse runes. Once those were handed over she perused them and frowned. At Snotlout’s questioning look Astrid explained that Heather, besides knowing some spells she had learned from the twins, was better at linguistics and research. “It will take me some time but I might be able to decode it.” Heather replied. “I recognize some words but it all looks like a jumbled mess to me.”

“What do you mean?” Hiccup asked as he too looked at the notes.

“It’s like someone tried to mix two or three spells together. Some of these don’t make sense to me.” She explained while pointing at a particular section. “This means ‘to contain’ while this part means ‘to provide power’.” She then pointed to the lower section of the photograph. “I recognize this word. It reads as Niðafjöll.”

“The hell is Niðafjöll?!” Snotlout asked while rubbing his temples. He was starting to develop a headache.

“It’s as you said Snot, Hell,” Fishlegs answered. “More specifically, Niðafjöll refers to a location in the northern underworld and literally means dark mountains. It’s supposed to be where Nidhogg comes from and where the good and virtuous people live in a golden palace after Ragnarok.”

“Can we determine how old this writing is?” Hiccup asked.

“Probably old.” Astrid replied. “It certainly didn’t look like it was etched recently. It was under a thick layer of dust and cobwebs and seemed to have been subjected to a fair share of water damage.”

“If it’s as old as the mansion then we have a problem,” Hiccup stated.

“Why?” Snotlout was even more confused now.

“Snotlout do you know of L'Anse aux Meadows?” Fishlegs asked.

“No?” Snotlout raised his brow and crossed his arms. “Should I?”

“L'Anse aux Meadows is an archeological site on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland. It was discovered in 1960 and is the only confirmed Norse site outside of Greenland that corroborates pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact.” Fishlegs explained. “There is more than a century between when Grisly manor was built and the site was first discovered. Thus people living in the Victorian era in America should have had no knowledge of Norse runes.”

“Oh,”

“Yes, Oh, Snot. This is the concept we are struggling with.” Hiccup frowned. “It’s like trying to explain how a statue of a Roman emperor could have ended up in a Mayan temple. Just to give an example.”

“There are some interesting things to note about L'Anse aux Meadows,” Fishlegs continued. “Did you know that it is notable for its possible connection with Leif Erikson,”

“Who?” Snotlout grumbled.

“Leif Erikson was a Norse explorer hailing from Iceland. He is thought to have been the first known European to have set foot on continental North America,” Fishlegs explained. “According to sagas, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, which is now called Newfoundland.”

“Funny story,” Fishlegs continued rambling. “Newfoundland’s name actually isn’t derived from Vinland but from the name Terra Nov-”

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Snotlout interrupted. “This guy was important and someone else named Newfoundland. How exactly does this help us?”

“Well…. It doesn’t,” Fishlegs muttered. “Though it should be noted that when the Vikings landed, Vinland had been inhabited by a Paleo-Eskimo culture known as the Dorset. There is still a debate going on if these cultures interacted. And it doesn’t seem like the Vikings traveled further inland.”

“That we know of,” Astrid responded while tapping the armrest of the couch. “No one actually knows how far their influence reached.”

“But all the way to the Victorian era, 800 years later?” Ruffnut questioned while looking over a map on the bed with her brother. “Come on, even that’s farfetched.”

“Basically there are too many unknown variables.” Heather stated as she was working on the translation. “The only person who could give us any answers is a ghost.”

“So let’s ask the ghost,” Hiccup decided.

“WHAT?!” Was exclaimed in the room. He had expected a backlash but everyone screaming that at once did surprise him.

“Halloween starts tonight. At the Witching hour the veil between worlds will be the thinnest. It may be the only chance we have to communicate fully with this entity.” He stated. “You guys know I’m right. We are making little headway with this case. If we have the chance to question someone directly involved it might shed light on some things.”

“If you’re proposing one of us becomes a Medium to channel that ghost then you’re insane,” Astrid grumbled.

“It didn’t look like she meant any harm,” Hiccup reasoned. “The lady still seemed sentient enough to understand my question and lead us to that basement door.”

Astrid’s eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips but she had to admit Hiccup had a good point. They were at a dead end and the only one that could give them a clue right now was a dead woman.

* * *

**Grisly Manor, 31 October 2022, 1:47 AM**

It was now Halloween and the Witching hour would officially start in less than 15 minutes. The gang piled out of the SUV they had parked at the gate and made their way onto the property. They couldn’t drive up all the way to the house because most of the demolition equipment was parked on the front lawn.

“Why did I have to come with you guys again?” Snotlout asked as he looked left and right nervously. The darkness of the area was quite imposing. “I could have stayed behind with Heather and Fishlegs,”

“You’d rather stare at Norse runes all night?” Ruffnut asked with a raised brow. “Come on man, even I know you’d get bored quickly.”

“Being bored is better than getting a heart attack hairs from a spectre.” Snotlout huffed.

“I don’t think the White lady means us any harm,” Hiccup replied.

“But something does,” Tuffnut stated as he had a pendulum with a large amethyst at the end swaying. “The negative energies this thing is picking up are off the charts. The witching hour peaks at 3AM. I don’t suggest being in that house by then. Not with this thing going off.”

“Gotcha,” Hiccup said as he hefted his backpack onto his shoulder. “I want you two to stay outside and monitor the situation.

“I’ll stay outside too!” Snotlout quickly said just as Hiccup was about to suggest Astrid and him head inside.

“Fine,” Hiccup said as he looked to Astrid. She’d come heavily armed to say the least. Dressed in dark blue leather pants, a black shirt that was partially covered by a red leather jacket with several spikes on the shoulders. Hiccup had no doubt that there were at least five hidden knives in that jacket. The belt she had donned also folded out into a sword. It was a weapon that she had become enamored with over the years as it could easily hold a small vial of holy water in the hilt. ‘Great for demon hunting’ Astrid had commented one night. But her signature piece was the large double bladed axe on her back.

“I'm not in agreement with this method,” Astrid stated as the two walked towards the front door of the mansion. “If there is even a hint of hostility…..”

“You’ll axe it, I know.I wish you’d have more faith in me though.” Hiccup replied.

“I do have faith in you Hiccup. It’s the supernatural I don’t trust. I’ve been a headless horsewoman for more than a century. These beings operate by their own set of rules at times.” She said as the door opened automatically with an ominous creak.

The front door slammed shut behind them and an icy chill immediately enveloped the foyer they were now standing in. It was just like last time but the only difference was that this time the White lady didn’t materialize.

“Elenor?” Hiccup called. “Elenor Grisly?” That got a reply but not in the way the two were expecting. Instead of the ghost materializing a harsh cold wind swept past them. It felt angry and hurt.

“Okay okay, so you don’t like being called that,” Hiccup realized as he looked at the still empty foyer. “Elenor Beauregard then?” He tried. “Would you tell us your story? We’d like to help you cross over,” There was no need for things like ouija boards or candles and although Tuffnut preferred to use quartz it wasn’t needed in this instance. The veil between living and death was the thinnest and when Elenor finally manifested, on the fourth step of the staircase again, she looked a lot more solid than last time. “We don’t understand what is happening here,” Hiccup said and then gestured towards the corridor that led to the closed off basement. “We don’t know what that is. What is keeping your spirit here?”

Elenor reached out her hand towards Astrid and Hiccup as white flocks reminiscent of snow started to envelop them. Their bodies felt the chill of the dead as the White lady manifested her memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story ended up getting bigger and bigger. Adding all of what I wrote into this chapter would just overwhelm the readers so I decided to split it up a bit further.


	3. Chapter 3

**New York, 1859**

_Hiccup and Astrid’s surroundings changed quickly as the snow-like fog enveloped them. Soon they found themselves standing in a salon in what looked to be the 19th century, judging by the fashion of the men and women present._

_“This is incredible,” Hiccup blinked incredulously just as Astrid gawked when one of the people passed through them._

_“The Witching hour really is amazing. To think it can amplify a spectre’s powers so much we can experience their memories first hand.” Astrid muttered, impressed. She looked around the salon and then spotted their target. Elenor seemed to be accompanying a young man. Astrid frowned when she wanted to move closer only to find out that they were rooted to one spot. “What the?!”_

_“It’s a memory Astrid. We can’t interfere. Only observe,” Hiccup said as he too looked at Elenor. An older gentleman was approaching Elenor and her escort though neither Hiccup nor Astrid could hear what they were talking about. Instead they could hear what the surrounding guests were saying instead. It seemed like rumors of civil unrest between the North and the South was the main topic._

_“This isn’t helpful at all, if this is a memory then why can’t we hear their conversation?” Astrid asked with a frown._

_“It might be because Elenor wasn’t focused on the conversation with the older man at all. We’ll hear what she wants us to hear,” Hiccup noted as he watched the woman give off a distant attitude while her escort tried to keep the conversation going. “Is he Elias Grisly? There were no pictures of the man in the mansion at all.” Hiccup was frowning as the memory changed._

_The duo were dropped in the entryway of what seemed to be a luxurious Brownstone next and their eyes widened when they saw Elenor pressed against the wall with a hand around her throat. That hand belonged to none other than the young man that had been her escort at the salon._

_“What were you thinking?!” The man hissed but Elenor was pawing at his wrists trying to get free._

_“Can’t brea-breathe…. Cousin…. Please,” She managed to croak out._

_“How dare you act so impudent!” The young man stated angrily as he finally let go of her throat. Elenor coughed and tried to catch her breath while the scornful eyes of her cousin bared down on her._

_“I only spoke the truth!” Elenor stated as she looked at her furious cousin. “Why do you wish for me to be engaged to such an old man?!”_

_“It is not your job to question why!” The young man furiously bellowed. “You are to do as you are told!” He approached Elenor again and she was once more backed up against the wall trembling. “You were sent here because your family could not manage you.” He hissed. “You rejected your suitors and made a mockery of them. Now I am tasked with having you wed,” There was an ugly sneer on her cousin’s face now as he looked down on her. “The gentleman I introduced you to has wealth that will benefit us all and he promised to turn you into the perfect docile wife.”_

_A shiver ran through Elenor and with a sudden burst of strength she pushed her cousin away and ran up the stairs._

_“The nerve of that man!” Astrid hissed and Hiccup supposed she was just itching to use her axe. The memory changed suddenly to another scene. This time they were on a balcony and a party was ongoing in the ballroom adjacent. In the shadows a man was leaning against the balcony with a wine glass that he put down on the balustrade intermittently. The glass doors leading to the balcony opened and Elenor walked out while wearing a white pear mask. ‘A masquerade,’ both Hiccup and Astrid noted._

_“What is a lady such as yourself doing outside on a cold chilly night like this?” The man asked but Elenor wasn’t startled. instead she looked towards the shadows eagerly._

_“One can ask the same about you Sir Grisly,” Elenor retorted._

_“Indeed. I find it curious that we keep bumping into each other. Quite the coincidence, wouldn’t you say?” The man chuckled._

_“No coincidence. I knew perfectly well you were here,” Elenor took a sharp intake of breath as she steeled herself to say the following. “I have a…. Business proposal for you.”_

_“So you aren’t here to blackmail me?” The man scoffed. “Tell me, what makes a woman so desperate that she seeks out one such as I?”_

_“A loveless abusive marriage to a widower? Or simply because I wish to get back at my family for dictating my life.” Elenor responded._

_“A spiteful one I see. Shrewd too.” Grisly laughed. “What is the lady proposing? I am intrigued.”_

_“Marry me,” Elenor deadpanned. “You are the only one I can think of that can oppose my family and this would be beneficial for us both. My family won’t object to a man that has more wealth than the man they supposedly picked to be my fiance. I haven't accepted the engagement yet so they are pressuring me right now.” She turned her head away slightly to grimace._

_“What makes you think your family would even accept me?” Grisly asked with a laugh of contempt. “They don’t have much respect for the nouveau riche.”_

_“You’ve invested in the New York transportation system and are on Mrs. Astor’s 400 list of New York elite, quite close to even the Vanderbilts.” Elenor stated. “They would be a fool not to take notice of you,”_

_“I still haven’t heard how this marriage would convenience me.” Grisly stated as he put his glass down on the ledge and probably crossed his arms._

_“You’ve been looking to expand your business towards the South. My family’s connections would be at your disposal. Also your proclivities would be kept under wraps. The rumors around you would die down when you get married.” Elenor stated and silently gulped as she knew she was probably stepping on a landmine here._

_“So you are here to blackmail me,”_

_“NO!” Elenor quickly said. “You have to believe I have no such notions! I could have exposed you that one time I caught you in the coat closet with one of the attendants at Mrs. Cole’s party but instead I covered for you.”_

_“How noble of you,” Grisly hissed._

_“My point is we both win here.” Elenor stated desperately. “I have no intention of being a docile wife and you are running into trouble because of the rumors. Marrying me would quell those rumors in an instant and boost your business. Meanwhile, I do not have to worry about a man trying to sleep with me. I honestly have no interest in that.”_

_Grisly kept his arms folded while tapping his fingers against one of his arms. “It’s intriguing, I’ve never had a woman approach me with such a proposal.” He stepped forward and both Hiccup and Astrid choked in shock at who they were seeing._

_“Hiccup is that….” Astrid muttered._

_“It can’t be can it?” Hiccup muttered as both missed the last thing Grisly said to Elenor._

_The memory changed once again but this time both Hiccup and Astrid were inside the foyer of Grisly manor. Though this manor looked much newer than the one they saw in present times. There was a sense of opulence in the decor. Both turned towards the mahogany doors that opened to reveal Mr. Grisly carrying Elenor, donned in a pearl studded wedding dress, across the threshold._

_“We must have timeskipped to 1860,” Hiccup noted as that was the year Fishlegs had found for Elenor’s wedding._

_“I wonder how much more convincing she had to do to even get this far.” Astrid muttered. “She was one determined woman. I have to give her that.”_

_Elenor actually laughed as her newly wedded husband put her down in the foyer. The fancy white dress she had became all the more apparent. “You didn’t need to carry me across the threshold,” She laughed._

_“What sort of husband would I be if I did not do that. This will be your home as it is mine,” Grisly answered back._

_“That is very kind of you,” Elenor laughed. “I assume our agreement holds,”_

_“Of course,” Grisly uttered. “We live as a married couple that turns a blind eye towards each other’s dalliances. You are free to roam the house and grounds as you wish. All I ask is that you do not enter the basement.”_

_“The basement?” Elenor frowned._

_“It is the only room locked within this manor.” Grisly replied as his face suddenly got serious. “Within the house, that is the only room I ask you not to enter.”_

_“Tell me dear husband,” Elenor asked after nodding as Grisly took her hand and led her upstairs to further show her the manor. “If neither one of us was attracted to the same gender would we have fallen for each other?”_

_“Maybe, who knows,” Grisly stated. “I am however fond of you right now. Never would I have thought I would meet someone who knows me so well.”_

_“That my good Sir, I can agree on.” Elenor laughed heartily as she was led upstairs._

_“Elenor seemed to have planned it all,” Hiccup pondered aloud “Though I can see from her reasoning how they would make a good match.”_

_“We still haven’t gotten to the part where she became a ghost.” Astrid muttered as she looked around suspiciously. “Grisly seemed to know what was in that basement so he would have the most to lose if his ‘wife’ found out. If he killed Elenor, was what was hidden there worth it?”_

_“AAAAAAAAAH!” Astrid screamed as the duo was suddenly violently swung through the memories. They ended up on the foyer of Grisly manor once again only this time it was night and a storm was raging outside._

_“I think I’m going to be sick,” Astrid heard Hiccup utter as he held a hand against his mouth. This memory felt nauseating. An oppressive aura caused them to feel a heavy weight on their shoulders and even Astrid was trying to blink back tears. Whatever this memory was it felt the most vivid out of all they were shown._

_The area was dark and streaks of thunder could be seen dotting the night’s sky from out one of the windows. “Hiccup look,” Astrid pointed towards where the basement door was and instinctively grabbed her axe. The door was still shut but the runes were glowing an eerie purple and wisps of fog escaped from under the door._

_“Husband? Are you there?” A female voice asked and they could see Elenor approach with an oil lantern in the otherwise dark room. “I heard a scream moments ago. What happened?” Elenor kept asking into the darkness but no answer came from Grisly. Wherever he may be he didn’t hear her._

_Elenor’s attention was caught by the door to the basement and the ominous glowing runes. She hastened towards it but hesitated to put her hand on the doorknob. “Elias? Are you there? Please…. I worry,”_

_Elenor’s hand reached for the doorknob but she shrank back when a scream of terror came out from behind the door. “ELIAS!” Elenor shouted but both Hiccup and Astrid noted that the scream didn’t sound like it belonged to a man. The lady rattled the doorknob and grunted but the door did give way and opened. Elenor rushed inside without a care for her safety and let out an unholy scream upon encountering what was inside. Both Hiccup and Astrid’s eyes widened at what they saw in the basement. The fog they had seen come from under the door was all over the basement floor. In the middle was some type of mound that released an ominous purple light. But that wasn’t the most terrifying thing, there was also an altar that now held the dead body of a maid. A dagger was pierced through her heart and Elias Grisly was covered in the woman’s blood._

_Elenor’s horror-filled scream drew Elias’ attention and he quickly sprang into action, racing after his frightened wife that ran back up the stairs. Elenor, in her haste, had banged her shoulder against one of the corner walls and dropped the lantern she had been carrying. Yet she sprinted on, not seeing just how close her husband had gotten._

_She was nearly at the staircase when a hand viciously yanked her bun of hair, causing it to spill loose. Elenor screamed as the hands took a hold of more of her hair and forced her down onto the carpeted floor._

_“Why?! WHY?!” Elias could be heard screaming as he punched Elenor in the face. “Why did you not heed my warning!”_

_Elenor was anything but docile though. She shrieked and clawed at Elias, spitting blood in his face and kicking him in the shins. This caused him to momentarily let go of her and as she made to get up he grabbed her ankle causing her to hit her head on the fourth step of the stairs._

_Elenor groaned as Elias was on her again, this time with his hands around her neck. As she struggled to breathe he slammed her head down on the edge of the stairs repeatedly all the while shouting “Why?! Dammit Why?!”_

_“THIS IS YOUR OWN FAULT!” He shouted “YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO FIND OUT!!”_

_Elenor gasped and her hand reached out for Elias’ face but it stopped midway and fell back as her whole body slumped, the blood from her head wound seeping into her white night dress.._

_Hiccup and Astrid watched Elias cry over the body of his wife he had just murdered before they were violently pushed out of the memories and came face to face with the spectre of Elenor once more._

* * *

**Grisly Manor, 31 October 2022, 2:59 AM**

Hiccup and Astrid were on the floor of the manor heaving and trying to catch their breath. Astrid’s hand found Hiccup’s shoulder and she held onto it as she stared at the ghost, feeling a twinge of sympathy. She would never completely trust the supernatural but this woman’s death was…… sad.

There were things that they had seen that brought up even more questions but Astrid, loathe as she was to admit it, realized that Elenor was not the malicious entity she had expected.

When the duo finally did catch their breath they noticed something strange. There was a dense fog covering the foyer’s wooden boards and Elenor had retreated somewhere. The whole room was silent except for the chilly fog.

Hiccup who was still crouched down looked at his watch and his eyes widened. It had just turned 3 AM and just as he was about to tell Astrid that they needed to get out something thick wrapped around one of his legs and yanked him backwards.

“AAAH!” Hiccup yelled as he was dragged away across the rotten floorboards. Astrid reacted swiftly and managed to grab a hold of his arm. When she looked up there was a dark entity with red eyes and a scorpion-like tail near them. Said tail was curled around Hiccup’s leg and it was dragging him….. Them, for Astrid too, was now being dragged towards the basement door.

“Astrid let go!” Hiccup told her as he grunted. “You need to get out!”

“Not without you!” Astrid shouted as she desperately tried to hold on.

“I’m not going to lose you!” Astrid shouted as she tugged harder. “I already lost you once. Never again!”

“But you hate me,” Hiccup bit out as his leg was starting to hurt.

“FOR THOR’S SAKE I LOVE YOU AND YOU DAMN WELL KNOW IT YOU PEA-BRAINED CIVIL WAR RELIC!” Astrid shouted and then looked at the scorpion tail holding tightly around Hiccup’s leg before grabbing the axe strapped to her back.


End file.
